Lok Sabha Election Assam India
Mamata Mishra
GUWAHATI, April 8 – With the Lok Sabha polls approaching, speculation is rife once again whether or not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would cast his valuable vote in Assam from where he was elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Amid all the voting awareness campaigns launched by the government and citizen groups, it is being expected by many that Singh along with wife Gursharan Kaur would exercise their voting right here. His conspicuous absence in the last Assembly polls indicates that the situation might just be the opposite.
Elected four times consecutively to Rajya Sabha from Assam, the permanent official address of Dr Singh is House No. 3989, Nandan Nagar, Ward No. 51, Sarumataria, Dispur, Guwahati, District Kamrup, (Assam) 781006.
Deputy Commissioner Kamrup (Metro) Prateek Hajela informed The Assam Tribune that Singh has not yet applied for the postal ballot. “We have not got any application from the Prime Minister for a postal ballot yet. However, an authorised person can apply for even four days ahead of the date of election,” said Hajela. The date of election in the Kamrup district (including Metro) is April 23.
Dr Singh had to cancel his poll campaign rally, scheduled today in Dibrugarh due to thunderstorm. His rally in Diphu was also cancelled a few days back following a bandh called by KLNLF.
However, the Prime Minister, while asking the people of Assam to vote for Congress, had held several public rallies in Assam in the run up to the last Assembly polls.
Manmohan Singh is already serving his fourth term as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Assam since 1991 when he was the Finance Minister during the tenure of the late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. He served his second term in 1995 and was re-elected again in 2001 and 2007.
“It is entirely his personal decision whether he would cast his vote or not. But as the national leader of the country, the PM should be more responsible than a common voter,” said former vice-chancellor of Gauhati University Debo Prasad Barooah, when approached by The Assam Tribune on this issue.
“Though, originally he is not a resident of Assam, he is an officially registered voter of Assam. Moreover, he is being elected again and again to the Parliament from the State. But again, it entirely depends on his sense of responsibility,” added the senior academic.
According to poet, journalist and former DGP of the State, Harekrishna Deka it is the right and responsibility of every citizen to vote and the Prime Minister cannot be an exception. “Voting is not about creating examples for others; it is all about discharging one’s own responsibility sensibly,” he added. ASSAM TRIBUNE
Mamata Mishra
GUWAHATI, April 8 – With the Lok Sabha polls approaching, speculation is rife once again whether or not Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would cast his valuable vote in Assam from where he was elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Amid all the voting awareness campaigns launched by the government and citizen groups, it is being expected by many that Singh along with wife Gursharan Kaur would exercise their voting right here. His conspicuous absence in the last Assembly polls indicates that the situation might just be the opposite.
Elected four times consecutively to Rajya Sabha from Assam, the permanent official address of Dr Singh is House No. 3989, Nandan Nagar, Ward No. 51, Sarumataria, Dispur, Guwahati, District Kamrup, (Assam) 781006.
Deputy Commissioner Kamrup (Metro) Prateek Hajela informed The Assam Tribune that Singh has not yet applied for the postal ballot. “We have not got any application from the Prime Minister for a postal ballot yet. However, an authorised person can apply for even four days ahead of the date of election,” said Hajela. The date of election in the Kamrup district (including Metro) is April 23.
Dr Singh had to cancel his poll campaign rally, scheduled today in Dibrugarh due to thunderstorm. His rally in Diphu was also cancelled a few days back following a bandh called by KLNLF.
However, the Prime Minister, while asking the people of Assam to vote for Congress, had held several public rallies in Assam in the run up to the last Assembly polls.
Manmohan Singh is already serving his fourth term as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Assam since 1991 when he was the Finance Minister during the tenure of the late Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. He served his second term in 1995 and was re-elected again in 2001 and 2007.
“It is entirely his personal decision whether he would cast his vote or not. But as the national leader of the country, the PM should be more responsible than a common voter,” said former vice-chancellor of Gauhati University Debo Prasad Barooah, when approached by The Assam Tribune on this issue.
“Though, originally he is not a resident of Assam, he is an officially registered voter of Assam. Moreover, he is being elected again and again to the Parliament from the State. But again, it entirely depends on his sense of responsibility,” added the senior academic.
According to poet, journalist and former DGP of the State, Harekrishna Deka it is the right and responsibility of every citizen to vote and the Prime Minister cannot be an exception. “Voting is not about creating examples for others; it is all about discharging one’s own responsibility sensibly,” he added. ASSAM TRIBUNE
No comments:
Post a Comment